Adjustable supply-holder.



E. A. DE WOLF.

ADJUSTABLE SUPPLY HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED ocT.24. 19H.

1 ,216,782. Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

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ADJUSTABLE SUPPLY HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED-061224, 1914.

1 ,2 1 6,782 Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ATTORNEYS stricted delivery structed 'in the form UNITED STATES PATENT oF IcE'.

ERNEST A. DE WOLF, OF MANSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 UNIVERSAL WINDING PORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A COB- ADJUSTABLE SUPPLY-HOLDER.

To all whom/it may concern.

Be it known that I, ERNEST A. DE WOLF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mansfield, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Supply-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvementsin supply-holders for holding cops or bobbins While delivering the material therefrom 1n various processes of the textile arts. The

object of my improvement is to provide an adjustable copor bobbin-holder having a spindle which can be set at different angles to adapt the bobbin or cop to be inclined with its axis in line with the point to whlch the yarn is delivering. My new improvement provides for more accurate setting of the bobbins so as to insure free and unreof the yarn therefrom and is of p'ar'ticularadvantage for use on creels or with other apparatus where a large number of ends are being supplied. By. adapting the individual bobbin-holders for quick and easy adjustment the several yarns can be directed to the tension-devices at equal angles so that a more uniform tension will be applied to all of the ends and there w1ll be less liability of breaking or straining the material.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, illustrated by the ac companymg drawings,

in which like reference characters designate like parts. In the drawings Figure 1 is an'enlarged, detail view of the essential parts of the device with the r1ghthand side shown in section to illustrate the structural arrangement of the spindle-adjusting means;'and a a Fig. 2 is a view showlng the method of securing the spindle-supports to the uprights of a creel adapted to hold a plurahty of bobbins delivering their ends in multiple.

Referring first to Fig.1, A designates the main supporting-bracket or standard for the bobbin-spindles which is preferably conof a cross-arm having its ends cupped out or recessed to provide sockets a, a. Each bracket. A is adapted to support two bobbin-spindles S, S which are of suitable diameter to fit the bores b in the base of the bobbins or yarn-holders Specification of Letters Patent.

, bobbins or holders 6 hold them against for use on winding,

Patented Feb. 20, 1917,

Application filed October 24, 1914. Serial No. 868,466.

I), b. The spindles S are formed with spherical enlargements s at their ends adapted to fit the sockets a in the ends of the arm A, and are provided with transverse holes 8' for receiving suitable bolts D. Held on the bolts D are cup-like washers or caps formed with recesses c which are also adapted to the spherical surfaces of the ball like ends 8 of the spindles S. The bolts D extend through axial holes 0 in the caps C, I

and reaching through the enlarged bores s of the balls 8 are screwed into the ends of the arm A. By tightening the bolts D the caps C can be clamped against the balls 8 on the spindles S to bind the latter in the sockets a and secure them in fixed relation to the bracket A. It will be'observed that the bore 8 through the ball .9 is somewhat greater in diameter than the spindles S during their lateral adjustment. A still wider range of adjustment of each spindle in a direction at right-angles to the arm A is accomplished through the turning movement of the ball .9 on the bolt D.

Where the bobbin-spindles are set to point downwardly means must be provided for holding the bobbins from slipping off and a simple arrangement for this purpose is shown at the right-hand in Fig. 1. This consists of a split spring-ring 9' held in a peripheral groove 8 on the spindle S and adapted to frictionally engage the interior of the bore 6 of the bobbin 6. Usually the areconstructed of wood bite into their bores to longitudinal displaceand the ring r will ment. As before stated, the 1s present improvement designed partlcularly for use on creels where a large number of bobbins are arranged to deliver their ends to certain other textile apparatus such, for instance, as a Warping machine. It is to be understood, however, that my invention is applicable to other processes where the yarn is to be unwound from the bobbin, it being adaptable gassing, knitting or other like machines. hen employed for I screwed. into warp-creels a convenient arrangement is as follows: Referring to Fig. 2, the creel is usually made up of a suitable number of uprights E, only one of which is here shown. These are preferably constructed from channeliron which is trough-like in cross-section, as shown more particularly in Fig. 1. The cross-arms or brackets A are provided with rounded lugs a adapted to fit within the sides of the channeled uprights E and are arranged in seriesthereon as shown 1n. Fig. 2. Preferably, the curved face of the lug a isformed at an angle to the side of the arm A so that when the latter is placed in position on the upright .E the bracket Wlll tilt-slightly to bring the spindles S .to an inclined position in relation to the upright as shown in Fig. 2. Further angular adjustment of the spindles is accomplished through the setting of their ball-and-socket joints as later described. Suitable bolts e passing through holes in the uprlghts E are the lugs a to securethe brackets or cross-arms A in place on the creel.

The arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2 provides for the use of splicer bobbins 011 the creel, so-called because their ends are tied or spliced together to provide a continuous delivery of the yarn from two or more supplies. That is to say, the firstwound and last-delivering end from one bobbin is spliced to the leading end of the next bobbin so that when the yarn is-exhausted from the first supply the next connected bobbin will commence to unwind without break or hindrance in the delivery of the yarn. In

this way sufiicient yarn can be supplied in each end to wind a complete warp by replacing the bobbins as they become exhausted without stopping the winding operation to piece up. It has been found that this method is more practical and economical in use than to provide larger supplybobbins because the smaller supplies .are more convenient to handle and the yarn will deliver from them with greater freedom and rumformity and with less liability of the ends becoming strained or broken.

Any suitable arrangement of tensionmeans may be employed on the creel for applying tension to the yarns as they draw off from the bobbins and in Fig. 2 I have illustrated one form of such a device. This consists essentially of a porcelain member T having a cylindrical barrel formed with a helical groove t on its periphery. At one end of the member T are two projecting ears or flanges t, t having their-inner faces diverging to form a V-shaped yarn-receiving groove F. The tension-devices T are mounted on suitable arms or brackets supported on uprights similar to the channel irons E, but these are not here shown or describedk In assembling the bobbin-supports on the creel the cross-arms A are secured in place} on the uprights E in pairs, arranged in such relation that the spindles S of'each pair point toward an appropriately-positioned tension-device T.. The brackets A of each related pair will be set some distance apart while the first bracket of the next pair will be relatively close to the adjacent bracket of the first pair. In this way a very economical use is made of the space on the creel so that a large number of supplies: can be encompassed within narrow limits. Each bracket carries two spindles supporting bobbins delivering to two different tension-devices, and the next bracket supports a pair of bobbins delivering in turn to the same two tension-devices. The angular setting of the arms A on the uprights Eprov-ides in a general way for this inclined arrangement of the bobbins B and after the supporting brackets are secured in place a more accurate adjustment of the spindles S is made as follows: By loosening the bolt D. the spindles S can be swung on the axis of the bolt in either direction and amore limited, lateral adjustment in theplane of the axis of the bolt is also provided for by the play in thebore s. In this way the spindles S can be brought into position with their axes pointing directly toward the yarn-receiving notch t of their associated tension;devices T so that the vyarns from the appropriate bobbins will lead thereto always at the same angle. In other words, there will be no danger of the yarns drawing oil from the ends of the bobbins at, sharp angles as they lead to their delivering points. After each spindle has been carefully adjusted as above described its bolt D is tightened to clamp the ball 8 1n its sockets and in this way the spindles are securely held against movement to prevent accidental disarrangement during the dofiing and replacing of the bobbins.

In use the creel operates as follows to supply the yarn, thread or other material to the warping or similar machine: The operator fills the creel by placing the bobbins B, B on all of the spindles and the ends of each pair of supp-lies are spliced together as next described: The leading end g from one of the bobbins B of each pair is drawn through the guiding-notch t of the appropri ate tensioning-device T and then wrapped around the barrel, following the groove 23,

a suitable number of times to give the rethe same pair so that the yarn will be continuous between the two. Usually, when the supply-bobbins are being wound a ,length of the first end of the yarn is wound about the base of the holder Z) with a few turns, as illustrated at w in Fig. 2, so that it Will be available for use in splicing up. After the splicing of the bobbin is completed the free end of the reserve bobbin B is wound about its surface, as shown at 00 Fig. 2, so that no loose loops are left to kink or become tangled and impede the delivery of the material. After the bobbins have all been spliced together in pairs in the manner described the machine to which the yarn is delivered is started and the yarn reeled off as required. When a bobbin B becomes exhausted the yarn will be taken off from the next spliced bobbin B and in this way the supply can be maintained oontinuous as long as desired. That is to say, the operator has only to replace the exhausted bobbin with a full one and to splice up its leading end to the last end of the next delivering bobbin so that the creel can thus be kept supplied continuously Without interruption. Through this method a much more economical handling of the material is made possible and no short pieces or waste ends are left on the bobbins after the warp beam is completed.

The present improved me'ansfor adjusting the supply spindles makes practical this method of creeling and delivering the yarn as above described. Without such a means for accurately adjusting the spindles to set the bobbins to point directly toward their delivery points it would not be possible to provide a free and unrestricted delivery of the yarn from all of the numerous bobbins. Furthermore, my new device provides for adjusting the spindles so that two or more bobbins can be set to deliver to the same tension-device with a continuous delivery without variations in the tension applied to the yarn. I am aware that it has previously been proposed to employ hinged or swinging bobbin-spindles on creels or other supplyholders, but it is my belief that the present disclosure is the first showing of the use of a universal-joint for this purpose. Through the use of this improvement the supplyspindles can be adjusted easily and quickly with little labor and to assure the required accuracy in setting the bobbins. I am aware, of course, of the previous use of universaljoints and ball-and-socket connections for various purposes in the mechanical arts, but in the present instance their use is applied to a new purpose and constitutes an improvement over what has gone before. I further believe that a new result is accomplished by this novel use of the means described, and that'the advantages derived are very important in the art to which the invention relates.

Various modifications might be made in the form and construction of the parts of my new device without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; therefore, without limiting myself to the exact arrangement shown and described, what I claim is 1. A unitary holder for the cop-spindles of textile apparatus comprising a cross-arm adapted for attachment to a creel-member or other like support and formed with sockets at its extremities, cop-spindles having spherical ends adapted to fit the sockets in said arm, socketed caps fitted to the spherical ends of the spindles, and bolts extending through the caps and screwed into the ends of the arm to clamp the parts together to provide for angular adjustment of the spindles.

2. In a supply-holder for creels or the like, the combination with a creel-member formed of channel-iron, of a crossarm formed with a rounded lug adapted to fit the trough of the channel-iron, a. bolt extending through the channel-iron and screwed into the lug on the cross-arm, spindles for receiving the supply-cops or bobbins, and universal-joints for mounting said spindles at the ends of the cross-arms to adapt them to be adjusted angularly in relation thereto.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST A. DE WOLF.

Witnesses:

CHARLES N. CRANE. HERBERT E. KING. 

